Brazilian Standards and Conformity Assessment
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STANDARDS AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT Excerpt From Country Commercial Guide

Trade.gov/standards

studying various options ranging from the adoption of one of the three existing DTV standards (U.S., European, Japanese), the development of its own technical regulation, or some combination of these. A uniform DTV standard throughout the hemisphere will result in lower consumer costs for all. The US Government has voiced concern that the selection process is not fully transparent, and that Brazil’s DTV choice may not be compatible with ATSC. The US Government is continuing to work on this issue, urging Brazil to select the standard that offers the best technology at the lowest cost. There is cause for concern; Brazil developed the Pal-M standard for analog television, which is not used by any other country in the world and is incompatible with PAL or NTSC.

relating to a technical regulation or voluntary standard. In Brazil, the conformity assessment system follows ISO guidelines. Conformity assessment includes test and calibration laboratories, product certification bodies, accreditation bodies, inspection and verification units, quality system registrars, and others. Conformity assessment can be voluntary or mandatory (done through a legal instrument to protect the consumer on issues related to life, health and environment). Interested U.S. parties can be accredited by INMETRO to perform conformity assessment activities.

Test and Calibration Laboratories INMETRO accredits test and calibration laboratories authorized to operate in Brazil. The following link provides

information on Brazil’s accredited calibration laboratories: www.inmetro.gov.br/laboratorios/rbc/. One can search for accredited test laboratories at the following website: http://www.inmetro.gov.br/laboratorios/rble/

Product Certification Mandatory Testing and Mandatory Product Certification For regulated products, the relevant government agency generally requires that entities engaged in product testing and mandatory certification be accredited by INMETRO. Generally, testing must be performed in-country, unless the necessary capability does not exist in Brazil.

INMETRO is a signatory to the mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), which can facilitate acceptance of test results from US laboratories that are accredited by US organizations who are also signatories. For a complete list of MRAs to which INMETRO belongs, visit the following website: http://www.inmetro.gov.br/english/international/mutual.asp.

A complete list of products subject to mandatory certification: www.inmetro.gov.br/qualidade/prodCompulsorios.asp

Non-Mandatory Testing and Product Certification There is no legal mandate to date to retest non-regulated products that have been approved in their country of origin. For non-regulated products, some US marks and product certification may be accepted. As with all voluntary standards, any certification that may be required in non-regulated sectors is a contractual matter to be decided between buyer and seller. Market forces and preferences often lead to the need for a specific certification. To facilitate US product acceptance in Brazil by recognizing existing certifications, agreements between US and local certifiers/testing houses are encouraged. Also, there is no impediment for the establishment of US certification organizations in Brazil.

If your product has been certified in the US or Europe, it probably will not need to be re-certified (see MRA above). If your product is not certified, please refer to the mandatory product certification link. A list of certified products (both mandatory and voluntary) in Brazil is available at the following website: www.inmetro.gov.br/prodcert/Produtos/busca.asp

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